Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2021

stoneman

Here we go. Flying to DUB tonite and getting AA flight to ORD in the morning, then onto Vegas. 4 nights at Platinum then 5 at Signature courtesy of BA Avios.

Really looking forward to how things are now. We don't have a lot planned but managed to get Bellagio 241 lunch, $25 credit at Wolfgang Pucks and 241 Love tickets via MyVegas. Still have some Birthday dollars and gift card balance to use at Mon Ami Gabi. We might go and see either Shania Twain or Lionel Richie as well.

We are not hiring a car, haven't done that for the last couple of trips when the hotels started charging for Valet and self park. Uber and Lyft will do us fine.

Got a couple of 3 PAYG sim cards and have 30 GB Data and unlimited calls and texts for £10 each.

pebblesmax

Have a good time. Who gave you the deal for Platinum? We’d be interested in a deal for our October trip. If it happens this year. Also, which hotel do you use at Dublin airport?

stoneman

pebblesmax said:

Have a good time. Who gave you the deal for Platinum? We’d be interested in a deal for our October trip. If it happens this year. Also, which hotel do you use at Dublin airport?

It was Fernando, but he's left now I think.
The Maldron is good and you could walk it from the terminal with minimal luggage, but the have a free shuttle as well. Were staying at the Clayton this time

pebblesmax

Thanks Stoneman. 

nvh

stoneman said:

We are not hiring a car, haven't done that for the last couple of trips when the hotels started charging for Valet and self park. Uber and Lyft will do us fine.

We checked out of Signature a few days ago. First time we have stayed there - seemed alright to be honest 👍🏻 Would stay there again (especially as it was quite cheap)

Anyways, FWIW, turns out it’s free valet  🤷🏼‍♂️ (No self park options so maybe that’s why?)  - obviously this goes against the grain compared to other MGMs but at least you get something for the $44 compulsory resort fee

Side note - I just returned our hire car for zero charges. Apparently I had prepaid (I hadn’t 🤷🏼‍♂️) - got it in writing tho and they closed off the account so that’s a win!

We also seem to be winning in the casinos - that’s also against the grain 🤔🤣

Anyways - our last night tonight (technically we have a room booked for tomorrow night but it was cheaper that the $50 late checkout fee and our flight is an evening one so at least we can grab a shower before we leg it)

secretmachines

Anyways - our last night tonight (technically we have a room booked for tomorrow night but it was cheaper that the $50 late checkout fee and our flight is an evening one so at least we can grab a shower before we leg it)

Argh why didn't I think of that for our December trip

We got a cracking deal at Palazzo at about £60/night ... I could have bolted on an extra day!

Thought I'd could use some of my MyVegas LP stash to get two free nights at Mandalay Bay... But would need Thu/Fri night, and it's only valid Sun-Thu

totallybored

Just got back from a 12 night trip. I won't do a full trip report but I am feeling quite underwhelmed by this trip. I used to love Vegas and went twice a year some years before covid. Now I'm not sure if I want to go back.

We flew Virgin from Heathrow to Vegas in premium. It was expensive and I don't remember it being so cramped and uncomfortable. I know it's a different plane and configuration from the old days but I found the premium seats really uncomfortable. We needed the extra legroom but if we ever went again I think I'd avoid virgin. We couldn't get a direct flight back so flew Delta to LA and then virgin back to London. The comfort plus on Delta which is only really extra legroom was more comfortable than the premium economy on Virgin.

We stayed at the Encore for most of the trip. I do love the rooms here - beds are super comfy and I like the extra living area. I really enjoyed the stay, the hotel wasn't too busy and there seemed to be lots of Europeans staying here (not many Brits). Turndown service on an evening no longer happens though and there were no slippers. It's a small thing but it's a pricey hotel. Resort fee and taxes add an extra $76 a night to the rate too. The cheapest nightly rate I managed to get was $169 - gone are the days of the $109 nights I've previously had.

We did 2 nights at the Mirage (weekend as Encore was nearly $600 a night). I used to love the Mirage. The rooms felt tired and grotty and we didn't gamble there at all. I stupidly used the app to check in and added the parking to it. It stopped working as soon as we checked in and I had issues getting out of the car park every time which was annoying.

I rented a car from the airport from Alamo. I chose a compact SUV (some sort of Nissan) and when I got there she upgraded it to an Audi. I think I paid around £880 which was expensive but the cheapest I could find when I booked.

We ended up spending most evenings in the Cosmo, Wynn or Bellagio. All had slots I liked playing and decent waitress service. Cosmo was probably the best for free drinks! I noticed a lot of casinos now have 1c slots that have a minimum of 88c a spin. I like the old fashioned 3 reel 25c machines and both the Wynn and Cosmo still have these.

We had a fun night at Fremont street, we spent most of it in the Fremont. The $3 coronas are gone but they now do a $3 Heineken and it's available from the nicer bar at the right next to the doors. We went in the Circa for food - casino looks good but it was late so we didn't stay.

We ventured over to Resorts World one evening. Stayed about 10 minutes and left as we weren't feeling the atmosphere there. 

I think the main thing I found with this trip was how it was so expensive to eat out. The exchange rate is bad but everything seemed so much more expensive. We paid $4.99 for a large fries from McDonald's (off strip!!) for example. We had one expensive meal at Milos in the Venetian. They do a $39 lunch menu but this ended up costing nearly $200 with all the extras and then the tip. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Henderson and it cost $75 for two sandwiches, soft drinks and then 2 cheesecakes to go. I was in Dubai a couple of months ago and Cheesecake Factory there wasn't that expensive. 

We did have a good night at the Orleans. We went to the cinema ($6.25 on a Tuesday!) and then bowling ($4 a game). 

I normally do lots of shopping when I'm in Vegas but there didn't seem to be any bargains at the outlets. I'd normally buy OH and family Ralph Lauren polos but they were $115 at the outlet (with no discounts). I got some for $55 in Dillards in Summerlin instead. Both Dillards and Macy's in Summerlin had better prices on things than the FashionShow Mall branches. 

Something I did find annoying, I tried to buy a few things online to click and collect but I was unable to as you have to be a US resident (I couldn't get past the zip code and address). We couldn't book cinema tickets, click and collect at Macy's or !!!!!!'s. It seems US websites don't take Apple Pay either (I also couldn't get Apple Pay on my watch to work anywhere and none of my cards worked to tap on machines and I had to enter my pin every time).

If we go back it will probably be in a few years time. We had a good time but it just didn't feel as fun as in the past.  

nvh

totallybored said:

Now I'm not sure if I want to go back.

<snip>

I think the main thing I found with this trip was how it was so expensive to eat out. The exchange rate is bad but everything seemed so much more expensive. We paid $4.99 for a large fries from McDonald's (off strip!!) for example. We had one expensive meal at Milos in the Venetian. They do a $39 lunch menu but this ended up costing nearly $200 with all the extras and then the tip. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Henderson and it cost $75 for two sandwiches, soft drinks and then 2 cheesecakes to go. I was in Dubai a couple of months ago and Cheesecake Factory there wasn't that expensive. 

<snip>

We couldn't book cinema tickets, click and collect at Macy's or !!!!!!'s.  

Agree with this quite a bit tbh... we are lucky enough to have been to the US three times this year now (Vegas twice) and I don't think we will be rushing back for a while now (we will see!) - prices indeed seem astronomical for eating out

(Really curious where !!!!!!!'s is! 😂)

totallybored

nvh said:

Agree with this quite a bit tbh... we are lucky enough to have been to the US three times this year now (Vegas twice) and I don't think we will be rushing back for a while now (we will see!) - prices indeed seem astronomical for eating out

(Really curious where !!!!!!!'s is! 😂)

!!!!!!'s is the shortened version of Richard's sporting goods store in the fashion show mall.

And astronomical is definitely the word for it. This is probably going to be the main reason for not going back to the US (I was fancying a weekend to NY but I think I'll give it a miss). 

I've had a look back through my photos where there are some receipts to give people an idea of costs. We ate off strip to try to keep costs down but it made no difference. 

In N Out for 2 $21 (£18)
PH Chang's (Summerlin branch) and lunch menu of 3 mains and 2 soft drinks $65 (£55) inc tip.
Daves Hot Chicken (Summerlin) 2 chicken, fries and soft drink meals $35 (£30).
Dirt Dog (off Blue Diamond) 2 hotdogs and 2 soft drinks $25 (£21).
Black Bear Diner for breakfast - 2 breakfasts and 2 drinks $46 (£39) inc tip.
Bagelmania where I only got a plain bagel for $2.65, hubby got a breakfast bagel, a coke and a coffee $30 (£25) including tip.
The sandwich place in Circa for a shared BLT (it had no fries with it!!) and 2 cokes $28 (we had to go and order ourselves so didn't tip and then forgot to leave something on the table). This is the one that hurts the most. That's £24 for a bacon sandwich and 2 cokes!!!
A foot long sub to take out from a sandwich place somewhere between Blue Diamond and Summerlin $15 (£13) and this was the usual processed meat in it! 
Bagelmania for lunch. 2 lunch sandwiches with fries and drinks. $60 (£51) inc tip.
McDonald's when I wasn't feeling great - 20 nuggets and a fries to share and 2 drinks $15 (£13).

The Encore coffee shop on the way to the pool (I know, it's always going to be expensive) $18 (£15) for a coffee, a coke and one pastry.
A club sandwich with fries to share at the Mirage pool $30 (£25) including tip. I believe I splurged on frozen slushies with this too. 

We we're going to go to California Pizza Kitchen one day but I couldn't justify $65 for two mediocre pizzas that aren't much better than Pizza Express.

The price of a packet of crisps just astounded me. I paid $5.50 before tax for a packet of ruffles in a Smiths supermarket (that's £5!!) and then $4.50 plus tax (£4) for a packet of Lays in Target (a bag not much bigger than a walkers share bag we get here for £1!!!). 

Things I found good value or not too expensive:

We drove to Paris Baguette quite a few mornings for pastries. It is excellent and most pastries just over $3. Located in China town a couple of minutes drive from the strip.

We got a take out pizza from Boston pizza opposite the strat one night and it was less than $20 (what is it with Vegas and most restaurants all shutting by 10pm!!),

Whole foods do 2 pizza slices for $7.50 which are good.

We got Korean fried chicken at bb.q chicken in China town one lunch. It was amazing! A basket of chicken, a chicken sandwich, fries and drinks. It cost $36 including tip but was so good.

Looking at this list I realise it makes us look like all we did was eat junk food 🤣🤣🤣 but we just did have one meal a day and then a pastry or shared a sub for the 2nd meal. And those two packets of crisps lasted the whole trip!!

Water seemed to be quite expensive (over $2 a bottle at Walgreens) but we got this at Whole Foods (they had half litre sized bottles on offer for $1) or the 99c store.

I hope this helps anyone going. I didn't really think about the price of food before we went as I've been so many times but I was shocked at the cost now.

Petrol didn't seem too unreasonable though! We did a lot of driving and I think I spent around $120 in total on in for 12 days.

photome

I have been this year, for the 20 plus something time, I am also not in a hurry to go back

Going to Zante next month,my first greek holiday for over 35 years, maybe that will turn out to be my go to destination